Third annual Fringe Festival starts Thursday
Honolulu will again join a global celebration of the arts with the Oahu Fringe Festival, which has now grown to a three-day event since it first landed in Chinatown in 2011. Fringe festivals are...
Author: Ryan Kawailani Ozawa
Review: Snugg iPad mini case
Any Apple fan knows that getting your hands on the sleek, shiny gadget is just the start of the fun. Picking the right accessories is also part of the adventure, and while I generally...
IslandFunder offers more local crowdfunding
Last night brought the official launch of IslandFunder, a crowdfunding startup focused specifically on Hawaii projects. The gala event, at Five-O Bar and Lounge in Waikiki, featured Jason Alan, Jahlivity, and Rebel Souljahz. But...
Juicies Second Act a Hit on Kickstarter
One of Hawaii’s earliest Kickstarter projects is back with a vengeance. Juicies+ is the follow-up to Juicies, a set of colored smartphone charging cables launched in 2011. And while that first project hit a...
Hawaii startup Gibi finalist in Walmart contest
Gibi Technologies, founded by two sisters from Honolulu, is in the running to have its pet-finding gadget and app boosted by the nation’s largest retailer. The Gibi is a waterproof, rugged yet lightweight GPS...
Hawaii’s best green restaurants up for vote
One Hawaii restaurant will be crowned the state’s best green restaurant in The Nature Conservancy‘s annual Nature’s Plate Awards. The finalists, selected from public nominations submitted last month, are: Greens & Vines (Honolulu, HI): Formerly...
Surf magazine, app ‘nude’ launches
“Surfing is an elegant endeavor that was born, practiced, and perfected here in Hawaii. Our goal with nude is to cohesively portray surfing’s beauty, history, and elegance into a publication that will speak to both surfers and non-surfers alike.”
First ‘IconLocal’ Supports the Homeless Community
This past weekend, Honolulu hosted the first-ever “IconLocal” in support of The Noun Project. The workshop brought together local designers and civic-minded geeks with local community service providers to develop a set of symbols...
Bon Dance in Makiki This Weekend
The banner we hung on the temple isn’t exactly straight, but the message is clear: come to the Jodo Mission of Hawaii tomorrow or Saturday evening for the annual bon dance. Admittedly, the Mililani...
Uber ‘Black Car’ Service Arrives in Honolulu
Uber, the startup that aims to serve as “everyone’s private driver,” had its soft launch in Honolulu today. Based in San Francisco and deployed in over 30 cities around the world, Uber empowers smartphone...
‘Flutter’ Flies into Pearlridge
Dancetta Feary has been raising butterflies for nearly a decade. A Realtor with Prudential Locations and the older sister of the late Hawaii musician Mackey Feary, she fell in love with the creatures and...
Hawaii Virtual Reality Club Launched
The concept of “virtual reality” has been around for decades, and has inspired science fiction and popular culture in countless ways, from the “cyberspace” of William Gibson’s novels to “Tron” and “The Matrix.” But...
Social Media and News
Last week I was honored to be a part of a panel discussion that explored the news business in the era of social media. The venue was the weekly live roundtable program “Insights” on...
The 6th Annual Hawaii Geek Meet
Every year I look forward to organizing the Hawaii Geek Meet. And every year I get so wrapped up in it that I only get around to blogging about it after it’s over. This...
Apple Expanding, Microsoft Launching in Hawaii
Earlier this year, retail job postings on the Microsoft web site revealed the company’s plans to set up its first Microsoft Store in Honolulu. Sure enough, shoppers at Ala Moana Center soon spotted the...
Local Teams Launching Lasso, Startups at SXSW
The South by Southwest (SXSW) festival is now underway in Austin, Texas, starting with SXSW Interactive, which draws thousands of startups and entrepreneurs hoping to make connections or launch the next big thing. And...
Unconferenz 2013
The sixth annual Unconferenz, a grassroots, peer-driven technology gathering (where the agenda is set by attendees the morning of the event), was held on Saturday, March 2, 2013. Sessions covered topics like planning a...
Flashback: Police Union on Public Records Law
UH journalism professor Gerald Kato recently dug up this old video that SHOPO, the Honolulu police officers’ union, made in 1995 during the fight over the Uniform Information Practices Act (UIPA), or HRS 92F,...
Bookmarks for February 10th
When I’m not blogging, I’m browsing. Here are sites and pages that I bookmarked on February 5th: Breaking Down The Tesoro Refinery Closure: The closure of the Tesoro refinery has prompted a three-part series...
Scott Caan on Hawaii: “There’s no hustle there.”
Scott Caan, star of the CBS crime drama reboot “Hawaii Five-0,” appeared last night on Chelsea Handler’s late-night talk show “Chelsea Lately.” And not surprisingly, they talked about what it’s like living in Hawaii....
